Hit the Deck!

The cousins are coming! You would think since everyone is a year older, more mature that company coming would not be a surprise. That we could plan and clean days in advance. Not.




T minus 10 hours and counting! The Cousins are coming!

Merry Christmas!

From me and the three wise men!

Away in a Manger

No crib for a bed,
Little baby Ryan laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the sky looked down where he lay,
Little baby Ryan asleep in a tuba case- for real....all night. He's not faking, he's really asleep and it's like 8am!

Car Party

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Yes Virginia, There is a Santa....

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Virtual Cookie Exchange

Isn't this the coolest idea. All the recipes and none of the mess or calories! Check out the link below for lots of great recipes!


Here's my entry:

Mini-Chip Snowball Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups )12 ounce package) semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt. Add vanilla. Gradually add flour; stir in chocolate chip sand pecans. Shape 1 tablespoon of dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at preheated 375 oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven and sift powdered sugar over hot cookies on baking sheet. Let stand for 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar if desired. Makes 5 dozen cookies. Enjoy!

Do You Hear What I Hear??

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Drew and Hunter had their winter concert last night. Hunter is the first Tuba on the righht- Drew I think is 5th from the left. Enjoy!

Don't Go Changin'

to try and please us.... We'll take you just the way you are.


I guess I'm channeling Billy Joel today- Someone's Mom is a WAY better historian than I. Thanks for the GREAT pictures sweet friend!

Brotherly Love

After a long weekend, when they could no longer take being together, they let each other have it!

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Gobble, Gobble......

Thanksgiving 1989 - cutting onions with matches in our mouths to keep from crying. Twenty years later, he still gets to me.......


Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!

Go God!

This weekend Hunter was confirmed in our church. Confirmation is a 4 month process. There are weekly lessons, visits other churches and religions and a retreat. Each confirmand has a mentor and does a statement of faith.

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Joe and I were blessed by these two great kids as their mentors.

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But I think Hunter was the real winner, his mentor was none other than the sweet friend in the video wearing a red t-shirt. She has known Hunter his whole life- Drew spent the night at her house the night he was born. She has blessed his life with her influence, kindness and showers of love and attention.
Thank you!

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PS The last confirmation class serves dinner to the current class- told you he's a waiter..

Have you heard?

Drew was voted People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive"

Dog Fights

Someone please explain this to me???

Say it ain't so..........

The leak is back! Thanks to a drip pan that is too small.

Exhibit A-
Drip pan access through my closet. Thank goodness there's no water leaking onto my expansive irreplaceable wardrobe. The drip pan is the lighter grey thingy at the bottom. You can see the small cut along the bottom where it meets the white baseboard-that's were the "water" comes in or out rather. If the drip pan was the right size it would come half away up the side of the shower- do you see it's only a few inches.


Exhibit B-
My new best friend Mark fixing another problem. One of our shower heads is leaking too!


Exhibit C-
The leaky bad parts


Exhibit D-
Me and Mark bonding- he's going to be here alot in the next few weeks- Hope I don't get on his nerves too much. I'm going to be taking alot of pictures. Bring you "A" game Mark.

Tuba Trapped

I really was on the phone and thought he was just playing!

After a halo player loses a game- master chief shows up at his house to train him in the ways of halo... really fast.

Happy Birthday Manda!

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Tuba King

Drew and Hunter had region band try-outs last weekend. Drew is 9Th chair- they took the top 8 which puts him in the district band. Hunter is 2ND chair!!!! He made the honor band! He is really excited and practicing alot. Here are pictures of him, his music and thoughts.

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Bedtime Olympics

Only 2 Olympics every 4 years?! We got the solution! Olympics for before bed time.....everynight!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

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Wordless Wednesday

Brace Yourself

After wearing braces for a 1.5 years they're finally off!!

Ghosts of Halloween Past

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Hark the Harold Angels Sing

I think we're skipping Fall this year and headed straight for Christmas Here's Ryan whipping up a sweet treat.

For your listening pleasure

This year both Bears are in the same band. Hunter is on the end and Drew is 4 kids away to the right. If you enlarge you can see both of them, kind of. Enjoy.

Project Runway

This is what happened when we left our kids home alone for a couple of hours.....We've really got to keep our house cleaner, since now we never know when it's going to show up on YouTube!

Today She Would Have Been "90" Years Young

My Grandma would have been 90 today. I was lucky to spend 30 years with her and think we're alot alike. She was a first born and started her family at the same age I did. She was super crafty. She loved shoes, clothes, lipstick and getting her hair done....every Friday. She was a good cook and great baker.

It's hard to find a picture of just her because she and my Grandpa were inseparable.

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Even though she's been gone more than 10 years, she is still very present in my life. Happy Birthday Grandma!

Retreat

This past weekend Joe and I had the pleasure of chaperoning Hunter's confirmation retreat. We had and great time and so did they....

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12-5

You might think 12-5 is a sports score. It's not. It's the hours of Hunter's birthday party last Saturday. We had our first boy/girl party and it was great!


Crazy, I know.


We had food.....


Kids hanging out.....






A bouncy house.....




Dancing.....


Races.....




Happy Kids.....




Crazy kids.....


Singing.....



They love to get each other funny crazy cards.


Listen for "I only picked it out because of the farting Jingle Bells"



This one was a Wedding Card with a kindergarten picture of the person giving the card.


Pretty, Pretty Princess






Kids in boxes.....


Kids falling down.....


And the biggest hit.....HELIUM!!!!!









Happy "13th" Birthday Hunter!

What is to Come...

Friday night Drew sat with the high school band he'll play in next year. Every year they invite new recruits over to play with them for first half of the game.






Drew is to the far right of the picture. To his far left is a friend he's known his whole life.


They pair the kids up with someone who plays their same instrument as mentors.


Afterwards, they went to the upper level and watched the half time show. It was a great experience, we are really looking forward to next year!


While we were at the game, Hunter was with his confirmation class. During the process they visit several different churches and religions. Friday they went to a Jewish Temple. I couldn't pick just one picture, so here are four. I have a fun story about his shirt and tie- stay tuned






After it was all said and done we met at Ms. W.'s for a little birthday celebration.